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One Thing I’d Change About the Oscars – Part 3: Graham Flanagan

Academy Adjustments is a series of posts that will run up until the March 2 Academy Awards. Each of the Film Nerds will detail what single change they would make to the Oscars if they were put in charge of the Academy. You can see Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Today’s post comes from Graham Flanagan.

GIVE US FULL-LENGTH OSCAR CLIPS FOR PERFORMANCES.

If I could change one thing about the annual Academy Awards broadcast, it would be the lack of substantial video clips that showcase the performances of the nominated actors.

It seems that, over the years, the length of these clips has dwindled a great deal.

Future broadcasts should build time for clips lasting AT LEAST 20 seconds to allow the work for which the actors are nominated to be appropriately featured.

I remember watching Academy Awards broadcasts in the 1990s that included clips for the respective nominees that reminded the audience about the reason their names were being read.

It also created an opportunity, in the pre-internet age, to give people watching in smaller markets a chance to see samples of the nominated work that had yet to make it to their local multiplexes.

I remember Oscar clips in those days running much longer than the ones we see today, and I always enjoyed hearing the crowd’s reactions.

The Oscars’ official YouTube page (an essential resource) removed the movie clips from ceremonies gone by due to licensing reasons. However, I found one YouTube user called Mr Awards Man who seems to understand exactly what I’m talking about.

He’s created a series of nostalgic montages that recreate the way in which Oscar clips were delivered in older broadcasts.

Here’s his montage for Best Supporting Actor in 1995:

Hopefully the producers of this year’s show will return to a similar format. That is undoubtedly a difficult task, though, since the show is always injected with so much superfluous fluff that the clips showcasing the nominated performances are elements that can be easily excised in order to be done before the 11 ‘o Clock news.

It’s every actor’s dream to be nominated for an Academy Award. One would hope the Academy would take the time to remind the audience how the lucky few in attendance actually achieved that goal.

Graham Flanagan is a senior video producer at BusinessInsider.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Graham_Cam, and listen to his recent Aspect Radio contributions, where he discusses the work of Philip Seymour Hoffman and the truth behind IMAX’s variable screen sizes.